Rail anchor



Patented Oct. 12, 1926;

UNITED sT T s v 1,602,751 E T OFFICE.

sn Ncrs w. coornn ANDHENRY STEADWORTI-IY, or MONTREAL, QUEBEC, NADA, AssIeNons, BY D nner AND MEsNn ASSIGNMENTS, ro THE s'rnAn RAIL NCHOR COMPANY, LIMITED, on MONTREAL, C N D BAIL ANoHon.

Application filed March 9, 1923. Serial No. 623,931.

This invention relates to rail anchors or anticrcepers and presents certain improvements over the construction disclosed in Patent No. 1,366,558, granted the th J anuary 1921.

One object of the present invention isto provide a key of improved construction, not liable to be dislodged by vibration or chance blows and co-operating in an improved manner with the hook member.

Another object is the provision of a hook member of greater efficiency than that disclosed in the patent and capable of positively resisting a force tending to twist the same out of engagement with the rail.

Still another object is to provide a device of this character having parts so relatively proportioned that they may be assembled in a compact form to facilitate handling, transportation and distribution, and when so as sembled. are capable of withstanding considerable rough usage without separation but are susceptible of easy separation, without use of tools, upon proper manipulation.

A further object is to provide an anchor of the type disclosed in the patent having provision for increased frictional grip on the rail.

Various other objects and advantages may be ascertained from the following description and the drawings.

The device comprises parts of the same general form and purpose as the parts comprising the device disclosed in the patent aforesaid. and for convenience the nomen clature of the said patent will be followed herein, the. parts being termed, body, hook member and key. I

The improved form and operation of these parts is clearly shown in the accompanying drawing of which- Fig.1 is a side elevation of the anchor in process of assembly on a rail.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the anchor in operative position on a rail, and also illustrates the method of removal.

Fig. 3 is an end elevation ofthe anchor V on a rail. I

Fig. iis a plan view of the, anchor parts as assembled for storage, transportation and distribution. Fig. 5 is a side view a modified form of: anchor.

Referring more particularly to the drawngs, 11 designates a rail of usual form havlnga lower base surface 12 and upper base surfaces 18 inclined to the lower surface.

The anchor comprises a body 1 1 to engage one flange of the rail base, a hook member 15 to engage the other flange of the rail base and to be slidably associate-dwith the body, and

a key 16' to frictionally lock the body and hookto one another and to the rail.

The body 1 1 is of U-shap'e presentinga central web 17 and two arms 18, each notched i at 19 toward its free end to receive the flange of the rail base. The body is designed to be located for the most part beneath the rail andthe notches are positioned to cause the body to assume an inclined position, projecting under the rail with the web 17 at a greater inclination to the horizontal than the adjacent or overlying upper surface of the rail, and in the same direction, as shown.

The hook member 15 is formed of a strip or bar of spring material of a width to pass easily between the arms ofrthe body. One end of the bar is hooked as at 20 to overlie the rail base, the opening of the hook being of a size to fit very tightly onthe rail and frictionally grip the same. Toward the opposite end the bar is bent upon itself in a curve of considerable radius as at 21 and the straight end portion 22 beyond the curve inclines to but does not normally touch the central part of the hook member. The dimension of the bend or loop is such that When in place in the body 1 1 it will substantially fill the space between the body web 17 and the base surface12 ofthe rail. The'key 16 is of a width to lit easily between the body arms and is tapered for a short distance from one end as at 23 and in I the remainder of the shank length the upper and lower surfaces are parallel. or conyerge slightly toward the head. The taper is preferably all on the lower surface of the key but may be on the upper surfaceor on both surfaces. The opposite end o'fthekey presents a hook 24 of'a shape to fit snugly over the rail'flan'ge' 'The' extremity of the key hook or"head is formed to liesubstantia'lly vertically when the key i position or'tof incline at its upper "l the centre of the rail. g

' 'flhe' formed with its arms spaced its apart a distance substantially equal to the combined thickness of the key head and the thickness of the hook member shank so that the hook member and key may be assembled between the body arms. The length of the key is also suitably proportioned for this purpose to the end that when the parts are assembled as shown in Figure 4 a slight driving in of the key will engage its point with the part 22 of the hook member and cause the hook to fulcrum about the edge of the body arm, at X, and the key itself to fulcrum on the edge of the other arm, at Y, and press the key head against the hook member shank. In this way the parts may be compactly connected with sufficient rigidity to withstand considerable knocking about in storage, transportation or distribution without becoming separated. When desired the parts may be readily separated by grasping the hook member loop and sharply striking the ends of the body arms on a suitable object, such as a rail head.

A slight modification of the hook member is shown in Figure 5 and resides in turning the loop up so that the end portion 22 lies between the shank and rail, instead of down as shown in the other figures. The difference of form in the hook member itself is that in one embodiment the hook 520 and loop 21 are 011 opposite sides of the shank while in the other embodiment the hook and loop are on the same side of the shank.

The anchor is applied as described in the. patent referred to, i. e., the body is first applied to the rail and the loop of the hook member tapped until the hooked end 20 slips over the rail edge and finally the key is driven home.

Two things occur during driving of the key which are worthy of note. Firstly, the downward pressure contracts the loop so that the end 22 engages the shank and when this occurs the slope of the body web causes the hook member to slide down to draw the hook 2O tightly on the rail, as will be seen by comparison of Figures 1 and 2. No driving is necessary on the hook 20 to effect this movement. Secondly, as the key advances it deflects the shank of the hook member to the curvature shown in Figure 2 and as a result slightly flexes the portion 22.

The point of greatest frictional contact between hook member and key is at the illner end of the key taper, and owing to the key being preferably parallel from this point to the head there is very little tendency for the key to back out owing to vibration, which is of course compensated for by the resiliency of the loop and flexed shank. The elfect may be accentuated by locally thickening the key at the inner end of the taper. lVhen driven home the grip of the keyhead on the rail increases the grip of the device on the rail and the resistance to sliding along the rail. The head of the key is shrouded between the arms of the body and thereby protected against being loosened by a chance blow. hen the anchor is to be removed the end of a claw bar or other suitable tool, fulcrumed on the rail head, is placed against the key head, as shown in Figure 2, and the key levered out. The provision of a key designed to be driven home is important as it ensures driving sufficiently to provide the desired grip and at the same time guards against overdriving and straining of the hook member. Inspection is also facilitated, as loose keys can be located at a glance. The form of the key is important as it renders the whole length of the hook member 15 active, probably to a greater degree than obtains in the form shown in the patent.

The engagement of the hook end 20 over the rail base absolutely prevents the hook slipping off the rail and also holds the hook securely against being twisted oif the rail, as by a heavy blow from a passing object or by tilting of the body due to excessive tendency to rail creeping.

In case of a tendency to rail creeping the pressure of the body on a tie causes a tendency to slew the device on the rail and also a tendency to tilt the device in the direction of rail length. Both of these tendencies serve only to increase the grip of the anchor on the rail to hold the rail against slipping through the anchor. If the pressure is relaxed or reversed the grip of the anchor is not impaired as any return from a slewed or tilted position is compensated by expansion of the spring loop which keeps the parts always in tight engagement with the rail.

Except as hereinbefore noted, the anchor operates in the manner described in the patent and is capable of performing all the functions and is subject. to all the 1nodifications described in the patent, for example, either the normal or inverted forms of hold ing member may be used without a key.

The key, particularly because of the substantially parallel arrangen'ient of its work- All) lit)

ing faces, may be regarded as a shim to take up slack between the holding member and the rail and it is therefore obvious that, following the customary practices of machine adjustments, any desired number of shims may be used to obtain the requisite tightness of fit in cases of re-use of the anchor or where the spring loop has become permanently deformed or to adapt body and holdmg members of standard sizes to different thicknesses of rail base.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is 1. In a rail anchor, a body adapted to en gage one flange of a rail base, a hook memher to engage the body and the other flange flange of a rail of the rail base, and a key to be driven be tween the hook member and rail base and to be shrouded at its head end by the "body when driven.

I 2. In a rail. anchor, a body adapted to engage one flange of a rail base, a hook member to engage the body and the other flange of the rail base, and a key to be driven between the hook member and rail base having a hooked head to embrace a flange of the railbase.

3. In a rail anchor, a body adapted to engage one flange of afr-ail base, a member to engage the body and the other flan e of the rail base, said member having a hoo to enibrace the engaged flange of'the 'rail base, and a key to bedriv'en between the member and rail base.

4. In a rail anchor, a body'adapted to engage one flange of a rail base, a member-to engage the body and the other flange of the rail base, said member having a hookto embrace the engaged flange of'the base, and a key to'be driven between the member and rail base, said key having a hooked head to embrace aflange of the rail base.

5. In a rail anchor, a body adapted to engage one flange of a rail base including a web sloping toward the oapos'ite flangeot the rail 'base when the'bo y is inoperative position, and a member having at one end a hook in which said opposite rail base flange is adapted to be embraced, and means to press the member against said'web with sliding effect transversely of a rail and cause the rail flange to wedge into said hook with consequent frictional engagement to strongly resist relative movement'o'f the member and rail in the longitudinal direction of'ther'ail.

6. In a railanchor, a bodyadap tedto embrace one flange ofa rail base, a member to embrace the opposite flange ofthe rail base, and means to'draw the body and member 'together to grip a rail between them and at the same time to relatively force railflanges to penetrate more deeply 'intogthebody and member with wedging action, whereby the body and member will individually grip a rail.

7. Ina rail anchor, a body to engage one flange of a rail ba'se,-and having'a 'seatto be disposedbelow a rail, a hook member to engage said seat and the "opposite flangefof a rail base, and a key to be driven between said seat andrail base, said key having up,- per and lower surfaces diverging from its tip to an'intermediate point and having the said surfaces snbstantiallycparallel between,

the intermediate point and the'head end of the key.

8. In a n new re se n fiiiiiee sf a a an havin a sa b asesmaaw was .hbok member to engage said seat and't e. opposite ase, and a keys)" beaaven between said -seatand rail base,-said key having a plain upper'sur'faoe and a lower surface substantially parallel with the upper surface from an intermediate point to the head end and converging to the upper surface from said pointcto the tip end. r

9, In a rail-anchor, members to clamp a rail base between them, and a holding key for said members having a hooked end to embrace-one flange of a rail base.

V 10. In a railan ch or, members to clamp a rail 'ba-se between them, and a holding key for said members having a hooked end to embrace one flange of a rail base, 'theextremit I of said hooked end presenting a surface adapted for engagement by a tool fnlcrumed on the'rail head-and positioned substanti ally vertically when the key is in operative position, whereby saidtool may lever the key out of place without liability of shpping. e

11. In a rail anchor, a body adapted to en gage one flange of a rail base, and a hook member to enga e said body and theother flange'of the raiI'base, said member includ ing a'normally open resilient loopto be disposed in compression between thebodyand rail base with closing efle'ct on theloop,

1:2. In a rail anchor, a body adapted to engage one flange of a rail base including a seat to be disposed below the rail base-sloping toward theoppositeedge of the flange of therailbase, a resilient hook meniber adapted at one end to engage the said opposite flange of the rail base and at the other end formed in a normally open loop adaptedto lie between the body seat and rail baseand to be compressedtherebetween, whereby the tail of the loop willexert pressure against the rail bottom by virtue of its upward thrust.

13. In a rail anchor, a body adapted to engage one flangeof a rail base including a seat to be disposed below the rail-base sloping toward the opposite flange of the rail base, a resilient hook member adapted at one end to engage the said opposite flange of'the rail base and at the other end formed in a normally open loop adapted to lie between the 'bodyseat and'rail base and to be compressed therebetween, whereby the expansive force or said loop will draw the body'and member togetherto grip the rail base bet'wee'n them, and alkey'adapted to be driven between the body'sea t 'and rail base to" comr es the v r- L '14:, Ina rail anchor, a body fadap'ted to i one flange of a railbase including-a re s ewar th p s t fl n of therail has'ejresilient 'hobk' meinberadapted at one eneeog 'gethe ndeppesae-eaegefor a e at te other entl rested 1a ear ersewa e-ada ts tefi l y sea rail base "and-to herdin- &

pressed therebetween, and a key adapted to be driven between the seat and rail base to compress the loop and formed to flex the hook member between the loop and rail engaging end.

15. In a rail anchor, a body adapted to engage one flange of a rail base including a seat to be disposed below the rail base sloping toward the opposite flange of the rail base, a resilient hook member adapted at One end to engage the said opposite flange of the rail base and at the other end formed in a normally open loop adapted to lie between the body seat and rail base and to be compressed therebetween, and a key adapted to e driven between the seat and rail base to compress and close the loop, the said key being formed to constitute a fulcrum point for the member disposed between the loop and the end of the member, whereby sub stantially the entire length of the member is active as a spring when in operation.

16. In a rail anchor, a body adapted to engage one flange of a rail base including a seat to be disposed below the rail base sloping toward the opposite flange of the rail base, a resilient hook member adapted at one end to engage the said opposite flange of the rail base and at the other end formed in a normally open loop adapted to lie between the body seat and rail base and to be compressed therebetween, and a key adapted to be driven between the seat and rail base to compress the loop, said key being formed to present substantially parallel load surfaces when so driven, whereby said key has no tendency to backing out.

17. In a rail anchor, members to clamp upon a rail base, and a key to hold said members in rail clamping position, said key having a tapered point to facilitate insertion and presenting substantially parallel load surfaces when fully driven, whereby said key has no tendency to backing out.

18. In a rail anchor, a member hooked at both ends and adapted at one end for hooking engagement with one flange of a rail base to overlie the same and at the other end adapted for engagement in compression between the rail base and another member engaging the rail.

19. In a rail anchor, a pair of members adapted to clamp a rail base between them and adapted for assembly in an inoperative relation, and a key adaptedto secure said members in operative position on a rail and to secure the members in said inoperative relation, whereby said members and key may belhandled as a unit when separate from a ran 20. In a rail anchor, a body adapted to engage one flange of a rail base, a hook member adapted to engage the other flange of a rail base, and a key adapted to clamp said members together and to the rail base, said minim H members and key being formed for clamping engagement independently of a rail and in different relative positions, whereby said members and key may be handled as a unit when separate from a rail.

21. In a rail anchor, a U-shaped body adapted to engage one flange of a rail base, a hook member adapted to pass between the arms of said U-shaped body and adapted to engage the other flange of the rail base, and a key adapted to be driven between the hook member and rail base to clamp the member and body together and to the rail base, said hook member and key being formed for assembly in compression between the arms of the lJ-shaped body when disconnected from a rail, whereby said members and key may be handled as a unit when separate from a rail.

22. A rail anchor comprising a U-shaped body notched toward the extremities of its arms to receive a rail flange, in combination with a holding member adapted to engage the body beneath the rail and to em- )race the rail flange opposite the body to resist tilting of the body in the longitudinal direction of the rail.

23. A rail anchor comprising a U-shaped body having its arms notched to embrace one flange of a rail base and to support the body in depending relation to a rail where by upon application of pressure against the body below the rail and in the direction of rail length the body tends to be tilted with upward pressure of one arm on the bottom of the rail base and downward pressure of the other arm on the top of the rail base to grip the rail with greater tenacity, and means embracing the rail base flange opposite said body and engaging the body and holding the body against movement away from the rail.

24:. A rail anchor comprising a substantially U-shaped body member adapted to embrace one flange of a rail base at points spaced in the length thereof, and a body holding member adapted to embrace the other rail flange.

25. A rail anchor comprising a U-shaped body formed to engage at both ends with one flange of a rail base, a spring member, and a flat metal shim adapted to hold said body and member together and in gripping relation with a rail.

26. A rail anchor comprising a U-shapet body having each arm thereof adapted to engage the upper surface and the lower surface of a rail base flange, said body depending from the rail base whereby upon thrusting against either arm of said body in the direction of rail length the body tends to be tilted with accompanying downward pressure of one arm on the rail base and upward pressure of the other arm on the rail base, and means to embrace a rail base flange llU opposite said body and hold the body against movement away from the rail.

27. In a rail anchor, a body adapted to engage one flange of a rail base including a web sloping toward the opposite flange of the rail base when the body is in operative position, and a member having at one end a hook in which said opposite rail base flange is adapted to be embraced, and means to press the member against said web with sliding effect transversely of a rail, whereby the member will be urged to movement in a direction to draw the hooked end thereof toward the center of the rail.

28. In a rail anchor, means to abut a tie and to have clamping engagement with a rail to resist longitudinal movement of the rail including a holding key for said means to be forcibly inserted between another part of said means and the rail with wedging effect and having a hooked end to embrace one flange of the rail base.

29. A rail anchor comprising a substantially rigid U-shaped member including a central portion to be disposed beneath a rail base and upwardly extending arms jawed adjacent their ends to embrace one flange of a rail base at locations spaced in the length of said flange, and means associated with said member to embrace the opposite flange of a rail base to hold the member against movement away from the rail.

30. A rail anchor comprising a member jawed to embrace one flange of a rail base and a complementary resilient member associated therewith and jawed at one end to embrace the other flange of the rail base, said complementary member being designed to be compressed and flexed by its association with the first member upon a rail thereby to. yieldingly hold the first member against movement away from the rail.

31. A rail anchor comprising a pair of members each adaptedto embrace one flangeof a rail base and to engage one another entirely below a rail base, one of said members being resilient and compressible between the other member and the bottom surface of a rail base. I

32. A rail anchor comprising a member to embrace one flange of a rail base and presenting a seat to be located beneath the rail base and inclined in the same direction but to greater extent than the adjacent upper surface of the rail base, and a holding member to embrace the opposite flange of the rail base and to be flexed between the lower surface of the rail base and said seat.

33. In a rail anchor, a pair ofv members adapted of themselves to clamp a rail base between them, said members being capable of assembly independently of a rail, and means to resist separation of said members when assembled independently of a rail.

34. A rail anchor comprising a member to embrace one flange of a rail base and presenting a seatto be located beneath the rail base and inclined in the same direction but to greater extent than the adjacent upper surface of the rail base, and holding means compressible between said seat and the lower surface of a rail base and adapted to engage the opposite flange of a rail base and to be spaced "from the lower surface of the rail base intermediate its edges.

In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our, hands.

FRANCIS W. COOPER, HENRY STEADWORTHY. 

